Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

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Prism

in geometry, a solid having similar and parallel bases, its sides forming similar parallelograms. The bases may be of any form, and this form (triangular, pentagonal, etc.) gives its name to the prism. In optics, any transparent medium comprised between plane faces, usually inclined to each other. It is used to refract and disperse light, resolving it into the prismatic colors. a

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